One of the true joys of blogging is the wonderful emails I receive from people all over the world: people I have never met but who have somehow stumbled upon my blog and are nice enough to ...
Meat Dishes
Türlü – Summer Casserole of Vegetables with Lamb
Does a casserole sound a bit too wintry? I know we usually think of casseroles as being warm and comforting but because this one is filled with all the fresh summery vegetables, it seems like just ...
Hünkar Beğendi – Sultan’s Delight
Or lamb ragout on a bed of puréed aubergine. No wonder the Sultan loved it because we do too! This is an old Ottoman dish, the name literally meaning ‘the Sovereign relished it’. I think Angie ...
Vine Leaves Stuffed with Rice and Meat – Etli Yaprak Sarma
Here are the leaves I picked a few days ago after it stopped raining. From the vine in our Assos garden. It’s been a very wet spring and this past week was punctuated by thunderstorms and pouring ...
Köfte with Ground Sumac – Sumaklı Köfte
Have you ever been on holiday and been tempted to bring back some foodie item simply because you like the look of it or you’ve had it at some little restaurant there and imagine you’re going to ...
Bahçevan Köftesi or Gardener’s Meatballs
Back from London and back to much simpler fare! But also back to much warmer temperatures, blue skies, and what’s more, NO RAIN! So here we are again in Istanbul: This year’s snail-like ...
London, a Pork Chop and Me
pork chop on a bed of coleslaw This is what I had for lunch today. I didn’t cook it. Instead I ordered it, anticipated it, gazed at it, ordered mustard for it, and then demolished ...
Green Lentils and Lamb – Etli Mercimek
Lentils again. Yes, they’re good for you and they taste great! Here's another of those typical all-in-one dishes that are so common in this cuisine. Etli actually means 'with meat', beef or lamb, ...